Figure 4. Heat shock increases pathogenicity traits.

(a) Increased adhesion of C. albicans wild-type (SN95) cells to TR146 epithelial cells post 30–42 °C HS. Results represent percentage of adhered cells from 30 °C grown cells (no HS) or 30–42 °C heat-shocked cells (HS) compared with control CFUs. Data represent mean values ± s.e.m. from two independent biological replicates. Student t-test, *P<0.05 compared with wild type. (b) Increased cell damage by C. albicans wild-type (SN95) cells post 30–42 °C HS to TR146 epithelial cells. Culture medium was assessed for LDH release as a measure of epithelial cell damage of TR146 cells after incubation with C. albicans grown at 30 °C (no HS) or subjected to a 15 min 30–42 °C HS. Data represent mean values ± s.e.m. from two independent biological replicates. Student t-test, *P<0.05 compared with the wild type. (c) HS increases virulence in the G. mellonella model of infection. Twenty larvae per treatment group were injected with 2.5 × 10⁵ cells of C. albicans wild-type (SN95) cells grown at 30 °C (no HS) or subjected to a 15 min 30–42 °C HS. PBS was used as a control. Data are representative of four biological replicates. Significance was determined using Log-rank (Mantel–Cox) test, with a P<0.001 (d) HS increases C. albicans virulence in the zebrafish model of infection. Ninety zebrafish larvae per treatment group were injected with 15–20 C. albicans wild-type (SN95) cells grown at 30 °C (no HS), wild-type cells subjected to a 15 min 30–42 °C HS or with a PBS control. Significance was determined using Log-rank (Mantel–Cox) test, with a P<0.0001. HS, heat shock.